Dr. Martin Zimper ( Head of Cast / Audiovisual Media, Zurich University of the Arts )

1. The Story behind Storytelling
Sierre, #TpM2014
Prof. Dr. Martin Zimper
Head of CAST / Audiovisual Media
Zurich University of the Arts

3. Empathy with the Hero/ Heroine
„That might be me!“
Identification
!
The protagonist is down because of unfortunate circumstances.
BUT – and it is important that it is not his fault that he is in an unhappy situation.
!
The hero is innocent in bad luck.
What does the hero/heroine want? What does he/she need?
Equilibrium - he looses it and wants it back.
!
!

4. Brandcenter Richmond

5. Old Craft for New Media
Writing is a technique/ a craft
Hollywood has european roots
Aristoteles, Poetics („catharsis“)
Konstantin Sergejwetisch Stanislawski
Jurij M. Lotman, Semantic Spaces
Syd Field, Robert McKee, Christopher Vogler
Joseph Campbell, Der Heros in tausend Gestalten

6. Dramatic function of
the Hero/ Heroine:
Identification
!
To give the audience a window into the story.
To identify and merge with him/her and
see the world of the story through his eyes.
Heroes have qualities that we all can identify with and recognize in ourselves.
Stories invite us to invest part of our personal identity in the Hero for the
duration of the experience. We project ourselves into the Hero’s psyche.
!

7. Dramatic function of
the Hero/ Heroine II:
Learn, grow, sacrifice
The Hero is the one who learns or grows the most in the course of a story.
Learning that goes on between Hero/ mentor OR Hero/ lover OR Hero/villain.
The true mark of a hero is sacrifice - his willingness to give up something of value, perhaps
even his own life on behalf of an ideal or a group.
At the heart of every story is the confrontation with death.
With the threat of death or symbolic death.
True heroism is shown in stories when Heroes offer themselves on the altar of chance,
willing to take the risk that their quest for adventure may lead to danger, loss or death.
Heroes accept the possibility of sacrifice.

8. Breath of Death ?

9. The 7 Key Steps of
Story Structure (John Truby, The anatomy of Story, 2007)
1. Weakness and Need
2. Desire
3. Opponent
4. Plan
!
5. Battle
6. Self-Revelation
7. New Equilibrium

11. Die Reise des Helden

12. Why is so much of our life
spent inside stories?
!
„Stories are equipment for living.“ (Kenneth Burke)
!
„How should a human being lead his life?“ Aristotle, Ethics
!
„Story Arts have become humanity’s prime source of inspiration, as it seeks to order chaos
and gain insight into life. Our appetite for story is a reflection of the profound human need to
grasp the patterns of living within a very personal, emotional experience.“ (Robert McKee)
!
„Fiction gives life its form.“ (Jean Anouilh)

13. Story
A Journey which the audience takes with the characters.
A process of conflict and resolution. Of change and revelation.
A marriage between Plot and Character.
A good story is always governed by some basic human truth and it will have some
qualities that are universal.
A good story is not about a good hero and a bad villain, a good story is about
dilemma.

14. Diplomarbeit Christina Gwercher 2014

15. Why are we telling stories?

16. Diplomarbeit Gina Pigagnelli 2014

17. Audience watches a film
Paying attention to the screen
Identify what things are
Reading the signs and characters
Make connections: what does this mean?
They guess what will happen next
Worry about the characters and their outcome
End: Emotional closure of surprise and vindication

18. Catharsis: the purification or
purgation of the emotions (especially
pity and fear) primarily through art. In
criticism, catharsis is a metaphor used
by Aristotle in the Poetics to describe
the effects of true tragedy on the
spectator (Encyclopaedia Brittanica)
Aristoteles, Poetics
Agnorisis: the insight happens at the same moment
like the transition from harm to happiness
Peripeteia: a turning point, a change from
luck to bad luck, from joy to disaster, with
high emotional impact
Pathos: the acute threat of a disaster - with the
utmost probability that it happens

20. Semantic Zone1: The Village

21. Semantic Zone 2: The City

22. Seraina Mandra 2014

23. Overstepping a treshold
The hero/ protagonist oversteps a
threshold between two semantic zones and
enters a new world.
He/She changes - and her/his appearance
changes the characters in the new
semantic zones.
This is a key element of Story.

24. The inciting incident
For better or worse, an event throws a
characters life out of balance, arousing in him
the conscious and/or unconscious desire for
that which he feels will restore balance,
launching him on a Quest for his object of
desire against forces of antagonism (inner,
personal, extra-personal). He may or may not
achieve it. This is story in a nutshell.
(Robert McKee, Story)

25. iPad App „Humanity“
!
A travel app that puts storytelling and cultural immersion above all else.
In each issue, you’ll see:
A dozen or more short documentaries on fascinating locals, from a scuba diver in Iceland to a political guide in
Palestine.
More than two-dozen photo essays on some of the most breathtaking locations on the planet, each accompanied
by local narration and natural soundscapes.
Multiple travel experience videos that showcase some of the most beautiful, awesome and epic things to do in
each country, from snowmobiling on a glacier to discovering Jerusalem's ancient streets.
Humanity is an iPad app for explorers, travelers, and adventurers. It’s a travel app that puts storytelling and
cultural immersion above all else. Each Humanity issue is created through more than two months of production
with the aim of telling unique stories and highlighting fascinating individuals from countries around the world. This
isn't a where-to-eat app. We won't show you hotel reviews from your mom.

27. Merci!
Prof. Dr. Martin Zimper
Head CAST / Audiovisual Media
Zurich University of the Arts
cast.zhdk.ch
martin.zimper@zhdk.ch